NJIT Visits Women's Tennis to Conclude Season-Opening Homestand

Scene SetterThe Harvard women's tennis team concludes its eight-match homestand to begin the season against New Jersey Institute of Technology Friday at 4 p.m.

Last Time OutThe Crimson knocked off Boston University, 5-2, and Binghamton, 4-0, to improve to 4-3 on the year. In the match against the Terriers, Harvard fell behind early, dropping the doubles point, but won five of the six singles matches to knock off its Beantown rival March 1. Sylvia Li won both her doubles match and her singles match at No. 4, while No. 1 Hideko Tachibana, No. 2 Amy He, No. 5 Hannah Morrill and No. 6 Crystal Yen all picked up decisive victories in singles action. One day later against the Bearcats, Harvard won in impressive fashion, 4-0. The Crimson won the doubles point behind victories from the No. 1s Kristin Norton and Hideko Tachibana and the No. 3s Natalie Blosser and Hai-Li Kong. The singles match required the Crimson to play just six games over the minimum to earn the 4-0 victory in the match, which was played to decision.

About HarvardAt nearly the halfway point of the season, the Crimson sits at 4-3 overall and is on a two-match winning streak. Freshman Amy He is 5-0 to pace the team in singles victories, going 3-0 at No. 2 and 2-0 at No. 3. Fellow class of 2016 member Amanda Lin is 4-1, and senior co-captain Hideko Tachibana is 4-2 at the No. 1 position. Crystal Yen is 3-2, playing exclusively at No. 6, and Hannah Morrill is undefeated at 2-0 at No. 5 this spring. In doubles action, Sylvia Li and Lin have partnered up to go 3-1 this spring at No. 2 and 9-2 overall, while several other combinations have been used to help the team reach an 11-8 overall mark this spring. In its most recent match, last year's top doubles team of Tachibana and Norton was paired together again and knocked off Binghamton's No. 1 doubles team, 8-2. The Crimson, including the fall season, is 78-43 in singles action and 31-21 in doubles play.

About NJIT (Team Page)The Highlanders have raced out to an 8-3 mark in 2013 and enter the weekend on a two-match winning streak. NJIT has dominated opponents at home, going 7-1, while posting just a 1-2 mark on the road. Martina Tripcovici leads the team with a 9-1 mark, playing at positions three through six. Monika Graff, Ksenia Kuzmenko and Carolina Zanotta are all 7-3 with Kuzmenko playing only at No. 1 and Graff earning the nod primarily at No. 2. The doubles teams of Natalia Melibeu and Zanotta and Graff and Hannelore MacDonald are each 6-2 with the former playing at No. 2 and the latter earning time at No. 3. Overall, the Highlanders are 47-19 in singles action for a .712 win percentage and 20-8 in doubles for a .714 percentage.

Series History vs. the HighlandersThis will be the first meeting between the two programs in a dual match; however, it is not the first time the teams have seen each other this season. The Highlanders competed in the Harvard Fall Tournament back in November. The two-day event saw the Crimson win three singles titles and both doubles crowns.

Up NextHarvard hits the road for the first time this season with a trip to Florida to face Stetson and South Florida March 19 and 20, respectively.